World · East Asia & Pacific · 3 hrs ago
Victoria police chief proposes $150m push to disrupt organised crime
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush wants a new approach to tackling organised crime in Melbourne and across Victoria.
He wants police to break into encrypted apps used by criminal gangs to plan crimes and recruit people.
The proposal includes a $150 million package for experts and surveillance equipment to establish an Organised Crime Command.
A previous international police operation using the AN0M app gathered 27 million messages from phones linked to criminal groups, showing the intelligence such access can provide.
Bush wants police to focus on the leaders and networks behind individual crimes, including leaders based overseas.
The aim is to disrupt criminal groups so heavily that their networks fragment and lose power.
Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush has proposed a $150 million package to establish an Organised Crime Command.
The plan would use experts and surveillance technology to access encrypted apps used by organised crime groups.
Bush wants police to target cartel leaders and disrupt syndicates, rather than focus only on individual crimes.
A previous international police operation using the ANoM app gathered 27 million encrypted messages from 12,000 phones.
- Who
- Victoria Police Chief Commissioner Mike Bush.
- What
- He has proposed a $150 million package to establish an Organised Crime Command and disrupt organised crime.
- When
- October 30, 2026.
- Where
- Victoria, Australia; the article focuses on Melbourne’s crime gangs.
- Why
- Bush wants to gather intelligence on organised crime leaders and disrupt syndicates.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
An international police sting using the ANoM app harvested 27 million encrypted messages from 12,000 phones.
The article reported Bush’s proposal for a $150 million package to establish the Organised Crime Command.
- Proposed package
- $150 million
- Proposed command
- Organised Crime Command
- ANoM messages
- 27 million encrypted messages
- Phones in ANoM operation
- 12,000
- Syndicates in ANoM operation
- 300 in 100 countries
1 source
What people are saying
Seeing senior leaders within that group championing the operating model of change makes a massive difference … My rule of thumb is – and I got this from others, so it’s not my own rule – you need to dedicate at least 60 per cent of your time inside the organisation to driving a transformation.